The present invention relates in general to the field of computers and other data processing systems, including hardware, software, and processes. More specifically, the present invention relates to automated validation of policies.
Many of today's business policies are put into effect as the result of internal or external events instead of business, market or economic drivers. Whether their genesis is internal, external, or both, they are often mandated by parties that demand their enforcement, but may not be aware of their potential to contradict or conflict with other compliance mandates. In some cases, existing internal policies not only conflict with or contradict current laws, regulations, or policies, they place the organization at legal or financial risk. In other cases, new policies are put into effect that unwittingly offset, conflict with, or undermine existing policies.
While policies can be collaboratively created or modified, their validation may be limited by a number of factors, including but not limited to, awareness and knowledge of overriding government legislation or industry rules. This situation can become further exacerbated when subject matter experts have either not been identified or consulted to establish the viability or ramifications of their enactment and enforcement. In some situations, the proper knowledge resources exist within the organization, but the policy makers are unaware of their existence. In other situations, best efforts are made to identify and seek advice from the most appropriate and knowledgeable resources, only to inadvertently ask questions that lack relevancy.
As a result, there is an increased likelihood of establishing ineffective, counterproductive, or unenforceable policies, all due to the fact that proposed policies have not been properly validated. Current approaches attempt to address different aspects of these issues, yet the underlying issue of identifying and maximizing the use of the most suitable knowledge resource possible remains unaddressed. In view of the foregoing, there is a need for automatically identifying the most appropriate and knowledgeable subject matter experts within an organization and presenting proposed policies for their review, feedback and validation prior to their approval.